Ashen God
Chapter 638 - 637: Rushing Towards Each Other

Chapter 638: Chapter 637: Rushing Towards Each Other

"My overall progress in cleaning up the Demonized Swamp has just advanced to 73.8%, which is about three-quarters of the way there, yet the completion degree of the Evaluation Settlement Treasure Box has already reached roughly four-fifths, at 79.8%. Ordinary monsters, due to their large numbers, continue to have a larger proportion in terms of comprehensive completion."

"However, a 79.8% comprehensive completion degree certainly doesn’t belittle the effort I’ve put in these three days."

Zhang Yanhang quickly calculated based on the evaluation list and discovered that the designated number of monsters in the Demonized Swamp was a total of 18,558, and he had slain 18,339 monsters thus far. By this count alone, he had actually defeated 98.8% of the monsters in the Demonized Swamp, leaving just 1.2% that still needed to be cleared.

But evaluating settlements isn’t just about quantity; it’s also about quality. Although only 1.2% of the monsters in the Demonized Swamp Zone remained, the yield accounted for at least twenty percent of the total revenue of the entire Demonized Swamp. Otherwise, defeating 98.8% of the monsters wouldn’t result in only 79.8% comprehensive completion.

Of course, it was mainly because Zhang Yanhang had also taken out additional Demonized Creatures, further diminishing the proportion of the remaining Second Tier Demonized Creatures.

Take the Demonized Maned Tooth Beast, for instance. Its original designated number was only 7,000, but Zhang Yanhang had slain 7,243, with the majority of the extras coming from the third prize pool of the Demonized Swamp’s Lucky Slot Machine, and a smaller portion from the newly refreshed Demonized Maned Tooth Beasts he took out along the way.

The same situation applied to the eighty-five extra Demonized Dogtooth Giant Apes, compared to their designated number of six thousand.

Among the three types of First Tier Three Stars Demonized Monsters, only the Demonized Saber-Toothed Tiger did not have extra numbers. Zhang Yanhang had taken out all five thousand of the designated quantity.

This was mainly because he hunted so quickly that he took out all five thousand Demonized Saber-Toothed Tigers located in the Western Forest of the Demonized Swamp in just six hours, without leaving any time for them to refresh.

Of course, when the third prize pool of the Demonized Swamp’s Lucky Slot Machine is refreshed tomorrow, Zhang Yanhang should be able to take out some extra Demonized Saber-Toothed Tigers, allowing the completion of the Evaluation Settlement Treasure Box to improve.

Out of the four types of Demonized Creatures Zhang Yanhang had encountered so far, only the cleansing progress for the Demonized Emperor Crocodile was relatively poor, having only taken out eleven. However, this was because Zhang Yanhang had yet to formally start clearing the lake area.

One of the eleven Demonized Emperor Crocodiles was taken out incidentally while he was clearing the Eastern Forest earlier, and the remaining ten were all drawn from the third prize pool of the Demonized Swamp’s Lucky Slot Machine.

Therefore, although it is a bit poor now, once Zhang Yanhang clears the lake area later, the progress of cleansing the Demonized Emperor Crocodiles will definitely not be as lacking.

In fact, the Demonized Emperor Crocodile might contribute to the extra comprehensive completion degree, surpassing the designated number like the other Demonized Creatures in the forest area, aiding Zhang Yanhang in obtaining an EX-grade Ashen Treasure Box later on."

"However, though the evaluation list for this Evaluation Settlement Treasure Box looks quite normal overall, what the heck is this Lord Monster? Demonized Four-eyed Wild Boar Queen Pei Qi? Is it the pink hairdryer, Four-eyed Wild Boar Peppa, from my understanding?"

Zhang Yanhang naturally had also scanned the Lord Monsters in the Demonized Swamp earlier in the process. Now, with a slight recollection, he indeed felt that many details matched up.

"What happened to the prehistoric Demonized Creature? Turns out the Lord Monster is suddenly Peppa, which is a bit too outrageous, isn’t it? And besides Peppa, there are seven Second Tier Three-star Demonized Four-eyed Wild Boars in the Demonized Swamp.

Could these seven Demonized Four-eyed Wild Boars be something like George, Pig Dad, Pig Mom, Grandpa Pig, and Grandma Pig?"

Zhang Yanhang felt that logically, it made a lot of sense. However, considering that this side’s Peppa is the ’Demonized Four-eyed Wild Boar Queen’, so the ordinary Demonized Four-eyed Wild Boars could also potentially be the boar offspring that Peppa herself gave birth to. As for which boar fathered them? Zhang Yanhang chose to cast his precious vote for puddle-jumping George.

"Although I had scanned that the Lord Monster was a boar, I always thought it should be some kind of prehistoric boar with tusks, and the four eyes were just a side effect of the demonization. I didn’t expect it to actually be Wild Boar Peppa, who inherently has four eyes. No wonder a group of off-theme pink-skinned pigs suddenly appeared in a place like the Demonized Swamp."

Zhang Yanhang was also very curious about why Wild Boar Peppa had to be created with this bizarre image of two eyes on each side of her face. He could only conclude that aesthetics were indeed diverse."

"As for the mammoths... the Demonized Mammoths are also Second Tier Two-star monsters? Surprisingly strong."

According to previous scans, the Demonized Mammoths resided in the Swamp Area of the Fifth Stage of the Demonized Swamp. They would only be dealt with after Zhang Yanhang finished clearing the lake area of the Fourth Tier.

And those Demonized Four-eyed Wild Boars also lived in the Demonized Swamp Zone, just more towards the inner section, while the very core of the Swamp Area was naturally the residence of the Lord Monster of the Demonized Swamp, the Third Tier Two-star Demonized Four-eyed Wild Boar Queen Pei Qi.

Although Zhang Yanhang was currently optimistic about his progress in cleaning, he wasn’t so optimistic as to take out Pei Qi today. He figured it would definitely be tomorrow before he had time to take out Pei Qi. As for today, he would temporarily spare her life and reluctantly let her survive another day.

"However, that being said, there are actually only 547 monsters left in the Demonized Swamp in terms of designated quantity. If I push myself, I might actually be able to clear both the lake area and the Swamp Area today and fully break through the Demonized Swamp."

Thinking of this, Zhang Yanhang immediately closed the Attribute list of the Evaluation Settlement Treasure Box and started towards the lake area. The Western Forest of the Demonized Swamp he had just finished clearing was directly connected to the lake area located to the northwest, so he quickly arrived at the lake area.

Having just arrived at the lake area, Zhang Yanhang immediately saw the striking Achievement Vending Machine situated on the small island in the middle of the lake, but although he did see the Achievement Vending Machine, it did not mean he would go exchange achievements there right now.

For things like the Achievement Vending Machine, he would definitely wait until he had cleared the entire Demonized Swamp before making any exchanges, after all, exchanging now would surely mean failing to meet the requirements and not being able to exchange achievements.

Especially the achievements related to Lord Monsters, there are generally achievements associated with Lord Monsters in every Achievement Vending Machine, and those achievements usually have the highest Quality and best effects. So, rather than checking the achievements now and suffering unnecessarily because they can’t be exchanged, it would be better to wait until the end and exchange them all at once.

After briefly focusing on the Achievement Vending Machine, Zhang Yanhang quickly turned his attention back to the Demonized Emperor Crocodiles floating on the surface of the water in the lake area.

As for why these Demonized Emperor Crocodiles were floating on the water rather than diving into it, it was naturally because crocodiles are not amphibians but are ordinary carnivorous oviparous vertebrate reptiles.

Therefore, even though they like to stay in the water, they still breathe through their nostrils. It is for this reason that there are occasional bizarre news stories of crocodiles drowning. These incidents happen because crocodiles cannot breathe underwater and must hold their breath to move around in the water.

When crocodiles are faced with accidents under these circumstances, the logically odd phenomenon of ’fish’ drowning happens.

This is mainly because crocodiles, although able to hold their breath for a long time underwater due to the construction of special organs, can generally only manage an hour or two, and at most five or six hours; any longer and they would drown.

The reason crocodiles can breathe normally in the water environment without choking is due to a special structure in their mouth—a flap that acts as a barrier, which prevents water from flowing into the stomach and respiratory organs when the crocodile breathes.

Long dive times are mainly because crocodiles can store a large amount of oxygen in one breath by expanding their thoracic cavity and then, in conjunction with their special conditions, reduce their heart rate as well as the associated blood flow rate to lower their oxygen consumption.

In other words, this is similar to a low power consumption state like hibernation, which allows them to dive underwater for several hours in one breath. But that’s just diving; when it comes to launching attacks in the water, they are somewhat lacking in strength since their blood pressure doesn’t keep up.

It is for this reason that crocodiles are often found floating on the surface of the water, hunting other passing animals while pretending to be amphibious. Indeed, the underwater environment is not truly friendly for them.

This is precisely the situation Zhang Yanhang is currently observing, with most of the Demonized Emperor Crocodiles floating on the water’s surface, breathing through their two nostrils, and only a few Demonized Emperor Crocodiles lurking quietly at the bottom of the lake.

"The lake area covers an expanse of sixty square kilometers, yet the number of Demonized Emperor Crocodiles is only three hundred and fifty. So on average, there are only about five or six Demonized Emperor Crocodiles per square kilometer. Although from a normal perspective, the monster density indeed seems sparse.

But considering the Demonized Emperor Crocodile’s body length of over a dozen meters and its weight of over a dozen tons, one could suddenly understand why the monster density in this region was so sparse. Indeed, if there were dozens or even hundreds of Demonized Emperor Crocodiles per square kilometer like other monsters, it would indeed be a bit too crowded.

Now that the monster density in the lake region was so sparse, plus the fact that I had the Ocean Rhythm Talent to assist me, let alone the previous average of five minutes per square kilometer when I was clearing the Western Forest, I even felt that it might take less than two minutes for me to clear a square kilometer now.

After briefly observing the lake region and the Demonized Emperor Crocodiles within it, Zhang Yanhang immediately charged toward a Demonized Emperor Crocodile that was floating motionless on the water surface, not knowing whether it was asleep or waiting for love.

As soon as he entered the watery environment, Zhang Yanhang instantly felt the true sense of ’as flat as a pancake’; the name of his ability was truly apt without a single mistake.

The lake’s surface, which should have been shattered under the reaction force or even splashed up into a water column toward midair, was now like a hard cement floor, without the slightest ripple, not to mention even a speck of spray. Furthermore, from the feeling under his feet, Zhang Yanhang didn’t feel any of the expected softness and inability to bear his weight.

It could even be said that he had a feeling of being back on the Goblin Plain, that feeling of unobstructed surroundings where he could freely gallop; he really loved it, for it represented hunting efficiency to the utmost.

The Demonized Emperor Crocodile that had previously been immobile on the water’s surface suddenly turned its eyes toward Zhang Yanhang’s direction, seemingly attempting to open its mouth and activate its Death Roll Skill.

But alas, it was simply too slow. Zhang Yanhang, leaping high on the water surface, directly performed a Heavy Stomp, forcing the oncoming Death Wave back, while also conveniently breaking the upper jawbone, lower jawbone, and the related muscle tissue structure of its mouth.

Dark red fresh blood rapidly spread out from the ruptured wounds around the Demonized Emperor Crocodile’s mouth like money was no object, quickly staining the surrounding crystal-clear lake water thoroughly red.

Perhaps it was because crocodiles are also highly sensitive to blood, or maybe it had heard some noise, but a Demonized Emperor Crocodile in the distance suddenly turned its body and swiftly swam in this direction.

The Demonized Emperor Crocodile’s four legs, which appeared short and clumsy on land, now propelled with spiral-like bursts of astonishing speed in the water, stirring up massive white waves around its dozen-meter-long massive body, racing through the water like a high-speed yacht.

Watching the gratifying actions of the distant Demonized Emperor Crocodile, Zhang Yanhang felt deeply moved; thus, he immediately stomped on the skull and brain of the Demonized Emperor Crocodile beneath him. Accompanied by the flying bone fragments, chunks of brain tissue, aggregated blood and flesh, and dark red blood, Zhang Yanhang burst upwards, ready to ’head-on meet the incoming challenge.’

After all, since the other party had been so proactive, Zhang Yanhang naturally could not neglect them; otherwise, that would be rather impolite.

Relying on his ability to move as if on solid ground, the fast-moving Zhang Yanhang suddenly leapt high and then, nearing the water surface, executed a sliding tackle right into the mouth of the Demonized Emperor Crocodile that had activated Demonization, opened its mouth wide, and was charging toward him.